SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television
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Oct 12, 2012
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testified about the ethical standards and the professional conduct standards that are expected of a chief law enforcement officer. now, commissioner hur mentioned that the chief testified that any misdeed at all would be official misconduct, if committed by a sheriff. i don't think that's entirely accurate. i think what the chief testified to is that -- is that the sheriff is expected, under the professional and ethical standards associated with his particular office, to avoid most forms of dishonesty, that behavior -- accountability, being a poor role model. there are many kinds of wrongful behavior that don't rise to the level of criminals that are wrongful for a sheriff. but at the end of the day, i don't think -- i think you're posing the more difficult question than the relationship test. your question is when is the -- when is the misconduct severe enough that we should consider it official misconduct. and that isn't a function of the relationship test. conduct may relate to the duties of office without being so severe that it should rise to the level of official misconduct. i think tha
testified about the ethical standards and the professional conduct standards that are expected of a chief law enforcement officer. now, commissioner hur mentioned that the chief testified that any misdeed at all would be official misconduct, if committed by a sheriff. i don't think that's entirely accurate. i think what the chief testified to is that -- is that the sheriff is expected, under the professional and ethical standards associated with his particular office, to avoid most forms of...
SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television
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Oct 14, 2012
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i think you can look to the case law, you can look to the norms of the city, the morass of the city. i think that it is, at bottom, a judgment call. there have been times, 50 years ago, when a sheriff committing a little arm grab truly would have been no big deal, right? the severity, the understood severity of that conduct has changed over time. and it may change again. i don't know. but there is no hard and fast, where you can look it up -- >> supervisor kim: and i appreciate your answer, but does that open us up to the vagueness issue, which may make that clause then unconstitutional because then a person may not reasonably be able to predict when their behavior is official misconduct or not? >> no. the courts -- when the courts have looked at the vagueness issue, they have not focused on the separate question that you're posing right now which is how do you know when the misconduct is severe enough to warrant the sanction. >> supervisor kim: i'm not saying that it's severe enough. you're saying we're supposed to use our judgment in determining when -- if it meets the relationship
i think you can look to the case law, you can look to the norms of the city, the morass of the city. i think that it is, at bottom, a judgment call. there have been times, 50 years ago, when a sheriff committing a little arm grab truly would have been no big deal, right? the severity, the understood severity of that conduct has changed over time. and it may change again. i don't know. but there is no hard and fast, where you can look it up -- >> supervisor kim: and i appreciate your...
SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television
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Oct 11, 2012
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probably the case though that every misdemeanor conviction relates to the duties of the sheriff as a law enforcement officer. >> supervisor kim: so then you're adding to the test then the second portion of your test would be a relationship test, plus the ethics commission would have to determine that it falls below the standard of decency for that office. >in relationship to the sheriff's office, but if we were to assume that it is standards in relationship to your specific office, for the sheriff, it would be the relationship to his office, plus the -- what common sense would judge as falling before the standard of decency? this is where i get stuck is when does it fall below the standard of decency? a dui could be -- as a misdemeanor. you didn't hurt anyone per se, but you could have. you could have killed someone on the road, right? so i guess that's where i would like more clarity. when does it fall below the standard of decency for the sheriff, if we were to argue that there are standards? >> well, the mayor submitted the testimony of an expert, this person was the chief -- is willi
probably the case though that every misdemeanor conviction relates to the duties of the sheriff as a law enforcement officer. >> supervisor kim: so then you're adding to the test then the second portion of your test would be a relationship test, plus the ethics commission would have to determine that it falls below the standard of decency for that office. >in relationship to the sheriff's office, but if we were to assume that it is standards in relationship to your specific office, for...
SFGTV: San Francisco Government Television
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Oct 9, 2012
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and it doesn't have any support in the law. that's why, when they tell you that our position, that you have to be in office in order to commit official misconduct is unsupported, they have to go to other jurisdictions to try to get some case law to support their position. and we submit to you that you don't have to look any further than the the case law here in california, and it's right there on page 150 of the mazzola decision, wherein the court of appeals said there has to be a violation or omission of a proscribed act committed while in office. if you're not in office, you there's nothing to measure the conduct against. and so for those reasons, we urge that you vote to reinstate the sheriff. thank you. >> president chiu: thank you, mr. kopp. i know we have a number of questions to be posed. i will start things off, as i ask the mayor's counsel a number of questions to really understand the full extent of the arguments. first one i want to address the topic of timing. you say that by definition, official misconduct cannot o
and it doesn't have any support in the law. that's why, when they tell you that our position, that you have to be in office in order to commit official misconduct is unsupported, they have to go to other jurisdictions to try to get some case law to support their position. and we submit to you that you don't have to look any further than the the case law here in california, and it's right there on page 150 of the mazzola decision, wherein the court of appeals said there has to be a violation or...